Originally Posted by
stimpy
OK, I went to Bouchard Père et Fils today. It turns out they are just a producer who take some of the best grapes from lots of different areas in Burgundy. So Corton-Charlemagne seems to be what they consider the best of the best Chardonnay grapes. The best current year is 2007 here and that does indeed cost €80. But as Bouchard Père et Fils is the middle-man, you are significantly overpaying. That said, if you don't know which are the good wines to get around here, you can be assured of getting a decent wine from these folks. You just have to pay a bit more. They have a real nice showroom and give you a nice wooden box for your wine (yes I took one for the team and bought a bottle) and they speak perfect English as it is sure that their clients are not local.
I'm currently drinking a 2006 Ladoix Clou d'Orge which cost around €30 (also a bit overpriced) and it's just about as good as the Corton-Charlemagne.
bouchard is still serving time, i think. he mixed acid and sugar, and sold it as corton charlemagne(for real). henriot(i think), owns it now. he has 130hectars in burgundy, which is a huge amount of vineyard. he makes everything from 2 buck chuck up to to montrachet.